Seeing the future

U of M researchers are closer to creating a “bionic eye” that could one day help blind people see and allow sighted people to see better.

Led by Michael McAlpine, Benjamin Mayhugh Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, the team 3-D printed an array of light receptors on a hemispherical glass dome. The work was funded in part by The Boeing Co.

Next up: building a prototype with more light receptors that are more efficient and printing on a material that can be implanted in the eye.

“Bionic eyes are usually thought of as science fiction, but now we are closer than ever,” McAlpine says.